You Will Find Him

By: IcyJade2OO7

So yeah, this is a Gary the Gadget Guy/Reader, for all those nerdy penguins who can't get enough of that blue hunk pure nerd! Kind of based on spoilers and sneak peaks for Operation: Blackout.

Enjoy! =D WADDLE ON!

You blink. You have no idea what just happened. Gary just smiled at you.

That was all! And yet you feel sick to your stomach. He's smiled at you hundreds of times before, but this one was different. Suddenly, an erg to see that wonderful smile crosses your mind. You have to see that smile again!

"Hey urm, G, What's 23,405 multiplied by 76 squared?"

He think for a moment. Oh, how adorable he is when he's thinking hard…

"135,187,280. Still trying to stump me? Your getting better agent. But, still not enough." Not only does he smile, he winks. You almost explode. Your throat closes and you can hardly breath. You feel a small blush creeping on your cheeks, and so not to be spotted you hide your face in your phone. No need to worry G… The Elite Gear suddenly seems very interesting…

Oh no, Your reflection in your spy phone shows that your red condition is getting worse each time you look at him. You make up an excuse, "G I think I might, I should be getting home, to-to my igloo. My puffle would be, is urm, worried…"

"Well alright Agent. If you're so sure… Be back in time tomorrow for your next Field Op?"

"Of course G." You mumble as your quickly waddle (which is a feat in itself besides hiding your red face) to the Transport Tube. What happened back there!? Usually you laugh at his lopsided grin but it was different back there.. It was less lopsided and more appealing. You push the strange thought away and shove the feelings of desire for that same smile down to the pits where you try and forget about it. However, you can't…

As you enter into the Ski Village, you look back upon the Telephone building and reminisce about the beginnings of PSA. You and G have been through it all together. From the missing puffles, to the missing coins and clock tower pieces, to when the Sports Shop was destroyed. Oh you remember the look of devastation on Gary's face when he learned his beloved lab was destroyed also! You couldn't stand the poor inventor's glum mood and took him later for pizza, coffee and biscuits, and then dancing. You giggle at the memory of his awkward dance moves that were so terrible that Cadence came out just to scold him! Your heart beats faster when you remember that confused and dazed half smile that was all the same adorable…

Stop it! You hiss to yourself as you pinch your arm. You can't say that your boss' awkward smile is adorable! You wonder why you're feeling this way. You've never felt this way about anyone before! This emotion was so confusing! What is it? Friendship? Nervousness? Happy? Or is it…

Oh no, your inner voice tells you something that makes you want to hide under your bed and never come back out. No! An agent is not supposed to feel this way! However, all the evidence is right here!

The desire for his smile!

The unexplained blush!

The happy reminiscing about him!

The formal awkward smile now seems so much more adorable!

It's quite simple, really.

You're in love with Gary the Gadget Guy.

Your flipper bangs open the door to your small igloo. Oh no. no no no no this not good! You flop down on your bed after a long walk to your home. Your puffle greets you with its nonstop enthusiasm as you trudge in.

"Hi there little buddy. Oh no! You will not believe what happened today!"

It raises its head in interest. You sigh hopelessly. You explain everything. Along with many anecdotes about your travels, misshapes, and friendship, you tell your puffle your deepest confessions on this man. How when he smiles a whole bunch of fireworks explode in your stomach. How when he toys with his gadgets you can't help but stare at his focus and how cute he is when he's working. How his spectacles just add to his undeniable charm.

You look at the clock. Arg! Two hours have passed! Your cheeks drop and you face plant the pillow. "Oh no! This isn't good! I've just spent two and half hours talking about my love for my boss!"

You puffle shrugs and squeaks. Well, I wouldn't call him your boss strictly speaking. I think he's just a coworker with a lot of experience!

Well. You guess that's true. But that's besides the point. You can't love him, you just can't! It's unnatural. Besides, who knew if you even loved him? Maybe it just a deeper level of friendship. The blush comes back as you realize the level deeper of "Best Friends Forever" is romance. You've now just fallen into a pit. And you worry if you'll ever get back out!

Your puffle rubs against your tired arms in a way to comfort you. You smile as it does. You take the small creature in your flippers and hug it. You pull the covers up and let your head fall against the soft pillow. As you do so, you hope that this whole thing is just a fling and will blow over in the morning. Everything will be better in the morning.

"Ok Fluffy! Today's the day!" you sing, "Today's the day I'm finally going to tell Gary how I feel!"

Your puffle squeaks, honks, and flips as you beam. Three months. Three long months building up the courage to tell Gary how you feel. It never blew over. It never will blow over. Those weeks wasted just thinking that it would! No, you love Gary the Gadget Guy and always will!

You check your hair in the mirror, making sure it's presentable and spiffy. Gary is always well groomed, so why shouldn't you be? You take a deep, cooling breath for you feel like your on fire from all this anxiousness! Your puffle jumps up and down with excitement as you depart from your comfortable home, and will be patiently and faithfully waiting to hear all about it when you get home.

You're so nervous, but know that everything is going to go great! After all, Gary has shown signs of affection… Holding the door open for you, picking up your dropped pencil, and even fixing a bug in your spy phone for free. What could possibly go wrong? After all, what's more romantic then two best friends falling in love?

You first walk into the Snow Forts, when you notice that no one's having a snow ball fight! Not even the red team is fired up. You question, "Hey guys, why so bummed?"

What happens next surprises you. The area is full of, "Oh my gosh!"

"The penguin hasn't heard…"

"Maybe they didn't read the newspaper."

"It's always late when something big happens."

Strange. No one answers your question but they don't explain themselves, either. You brush it off and walk cheerfully (not as cheerfully as you were when you left your igloo, but still pretty happy) to the Town, where no one is even half as cheery as you are, in fact they're all worried and running around! "HE'S LOST! HE'S LOST!" they scream. Search parties organize themselves. "Ok, so you three check the Mines. You two, check the outback of the Dojo. You four! Check the Iceberg! He has to be here somewhere!"

You assume the worst. The smile drops from your face faster then anvil. Nothing about you is happy now, but optimism bleeds through your pores and you think to yourself, "No, no, it's not him… Gary isn't missing! Not on the best day of my life!"

Two penguins look relatively calm. Your agent days of overhearing pick up what they're saying:

"Such a shame, Moose."

"I hope we can find him, Polo."

Puffle. The newest Maroon puffle is missing. Heh heh… Nothing is wrong…. Nothing is wrong. Nothing could possibly go wrong on this day…

"Excuse me!" you interrupt, "Why is everyone running around like maniacs? Who is missing?" You try to keep your boiling panic from spilling over into your conversation. However, the next thing that the penguin says nearly makes you faint…

"Oh, haven't you heard? Gary the Gadget Guy is missing."

The look of a stunned deer crosses over your face. The world's distorted, your peripheral vision completely goes. You can't believe what's happening! No, no Gary's not gone. He can't be! You spin to your left. The town is full of search party groups and more forming. You look behind you. The lighthouse has it's light on, searching in the air. You try and focus. Nothing is working! You focus on one thing, your penguin friend who looks at you in confusion and concern. "Hey… are… you… alright?"

"I'm fine." You manage to say. You can't believe what's going on. You see spots. You force yourself to say awake. The other penguin gives you the newspaper, "Hey, it's OK, people are looking for him. Don't worry. Read this."

You blink, take a breath and a gulp. Polo gives you some water to clear your head. It's tumbling and spinning so fast you don't know to compare to either a washing machine or a hurricane. The heading on the newspaper almost makes you sick.

GARY KIDNAPPED?

Search parties are scouring the island, looking for Gary the Gadget Guy.

Your spy phone goes off, signaling that you have a message in the Field Op station. You don't want to do anything but clear your head. And convince yourself that Gary is not missing. But, duty calls. Even when you're so distressed you could make a blue puffle cry. You thank the penguins, return the paper and teleport to the EPF office, not caring who sees you.

Once you arrive at the office, you see a ton of agents all crowded around the Field Op station, to read what message G has. You fight your way to the front. Even though you don't want to read what's written. You read anyway, you must find out what happened to him…

"YOUR ORDERS: Assigned by: G. Technology Specialist."

He's not gone. You don't want to read further. Something forces you to.

"Attention Agents! I need your help. Someone is inside my lab, and I think that they're- -

*BZZZZZKT* \-connection lost\- "

You just stare blankly at the screen. Oh, your poor Gary! You picture his frightened face as Herbert captures him, knowing that he'll most likely never see a penguin face again! You picture him in a dark cave, with only the rubble as companions. The poor scientist! Cold, hungry and lonely in a cave with just a small trickle of sunlight peering through the cracks! Oh, how you wish you could be there, to stroke his flipper and assure him that everything will be ok! That everyone is looking for him, that he is not alone!

No, you tell yourself, this is a dream. This is all a horrible nightmare. This all in your head… People notice your stunned and hopeless expression and offer some comforting words. None of it helps. Jet Pack Guy pats your shoulder and says, "Its alright, Ace, everyone's looking for him. We're going to find him."

"ok." you peep. You want nothing more then to crawl up in a ball and cry.

You trudge towards the door. You're so dizzy that you can't tell it apart from the Transport Tube.

As you finally regain consciences again, you notice that someone has definitely hacked into here, and it was obviously the psychotic bear. No penguin has that much force to literally rip through three layers of steel. No matter. You look around in fear. Careful not to step on any broken shards of glass, you tip-toe your way into the Lab, where most of G's inventions are brutally destroyed. You squeak in horror as you recognize one of them.. Oh G worked so hard on this one! You hide back tears, but they flow from your cheeks anyway. "G-gary?" no answer. "Come on, G, answer! You've got the whole town upset."

There's a security camera looking at you. It looks tired, weak and worn-out. The last survivor of Herbert's attack. An idea hit you. This will prove he's still here… You rip off the camera, take its SD card with the footage and shove it into your phone.

You almost get sick right on the floor in front of you. The look of terror on his face is more then you can handle. You flop your chubby body on the floor, and cry. Your tears stream down your face as the computers spark and the door fades away. You sob and sob until your broken heart can take no more. One last tear runs down your face and drops off your chin-

-and right onto G's spectacles. You gingerly pick them up. Small pieces of glass fall onto the floor below. You take the crushed glasses in your flippers and examine the damage. You get up and examine the damage again. Based on the footage, the damage and the artifact right here, you can only picture what Herbert did…

G sits at his desk, checking for bugs and working on blueprints. Suddenly, he feels a bump. All alone in his lab, his adrenaline starts to flow throughout his body. As he hears steel being ripped, he quickly types his message, adrenaline pumping through his veins as his flipper scramble to type. "Attention Agents: Someone is in my lab and I think that they're-"

The intruder cuts the cord. Gary chokes on his words. He is greeted by a firm blow to the back of his head. His glasses fly off him as he scrambles and flails to get them. His eyes are nothing without them. "My glasses!" he screams as a big furry creature steps in front of him. The stomach-churning crunching noise is more then enough information to conclude what happened. Gary-hyped on adrenaline-leaps up, but is again hit by Herbert into a wall. Excruciating pain runs throughout his body. It feels like someone has dropped a weight on him. Gary falls to the ground. He is too weak and Herbert is too strong. He tries to run away, but his efforts are fruitless.

All he feels are bone-crunching arms grasp his neck and stomach, and then blackout.

You rewind the footage. Gary's hit, his collapse, his capture. His struggle. You can't believe it, so you rewind again. This all some crazy dream.. Gary is safe and sound at home. But it's unenviable. Gary's hit, his collapse, his capture. His struggle. It's hypnotizing. Gary's hit, his collapse, his capture. His struggle.

Gary's hit. Gary's collapsed. Gary's captured.

Gary's gone.

"Fluffy, why couldn't I have told him yesterday! Why am I such a pathetic glob of sap!"

The igloo ground is cold but you don't care. Your puffle hands you tissue after tissue as you bawl your eyes out. Your love is gone… Gone! Your fragile mind has finally accepted that. The video still haunts your mind, taunting you with the memory of regret and sorrow. Yesterday was the perfect time to tell him… You squeeze your eyes shut, to bring the memory closer. You can almost smell the ink and pencil shavings on his lab coat…

"Gary?" ooo, this was it! The moment of truth! He wasn't doing any work and he was in a really good mood. That could've just been the extra packet of sugar you put in his coffee this morning… Heh heh heh.

"Yes Agent?" He looks over at you with those innocent eyes hidden behind his charming spectacles. He smiles at you and it proves too much for your little heart to manage…

"I urm I um, completed System Defender today using your advice…"

"Oh good Agent! I knew those four cannons in the corners would work! Haha! Whose the genius?"

"You are, G." You rolls your eyes playfully and sigh blissfully. Defeated yet again by one of those smiles..

If only Herbert had waited on more day! One more day, because you had sworn to not look at his smile and at the pens in his pocket… You could've saved him! You could've asked to be with him more hour to help him with something-anything!- just so you could've been there when Herbert attacked… Stupid stupid stupid!

That stupid Polar Bear kidnapped him and prevented you from telling him…

… Wait a second. You sit up. Your puffle sits up straight too. You tap your flippers together in thought.

"It was Herbert who kidnapped Gary…" Your puffle nods, as that was obvious. You frown. "That no good polar bear outsider kidnapped my love…"

Your eyes squint in a ferocious look as your lip sneers, "That foe of mine stole my love from me."

Your puffle cowards away at your fearful aura. Just as quickly as your optimism warped to sadness, your despair morphs into anger and hatred, but most importantly, determination.

"Nobody is going to stop me." You growl as you teleport back to the EPF office.

"Good night Fluffy. I'll be back in the morning with Gary by my side."

"Director, I am fully applied to rescue G. I have been his right-hand-man since this agency started." It was thrilling talked to the Director like this. You push that emotion aside and scold yourself. Focus, you've got a mission to clear. The only emotions you should be feeling are hatred, determination, and spite. And love. You wouldn't be doing this right now if it wasn't for love.

"I understand that. But I don't think it's time yet. We need full proof that Herbert-"

You reach in your pocket and whip put a tuff of white fur. That animal sheds like a dog.

"Well. I see." The Director leans back in his chair. You start, "I went down an hour ago to find evidence-"

"And I see that you did." He takes a breath, "Agent, I do believe that you're ready such a huge mission. But we wouldn't want to alert the public-"

"Alert the Public? Sir! You posted on the Penguin Times that all penguins need to stay watchful. Search Parties are crowding the island, begging for some sleep but can't because Gary's missing. Everyone is panicking and fearful, and trying to save him will ALERT THEM? Sir. They could be MORE alerted."

The Director nods. "I'm concerned for your safety."

Your heart boils. You miss Gary so much you'd throw yourself off the Lighthouse to see him again. So you fight back, "Sir. Agent G is missing, alone and possibly starving. I don't care if I have to swim to Rockhopper Island and back to save him. I have the skills and I have the tools to save him effortlessly." Having enough of his excuses, you lean on the table and hiss, "I will find Gary with or without your permission Sir. I will not have him sit in the dark for one. More. Day."

The Director looks like he's smiling. "I like that attitude, agent. You've passed the test."

You cock your head. "What test?"

"I needed to find an agent that had the will to save him even if I didn't approve. Many agents took this test. Only you had the guts to defy me for G's sake. And for that, here is the key to the Weaponry Unit." A silver key slides out from the TV set. "I need you to find G, Agent. No matter what the costs. I know you will not let me down."

You salute to him. "G will be found, I promise you." The screen shuts off and with key in hand, you walk to the Weaponry Unit. Nothing can stop you from finding Gary. You're thrilled that you passed this test but you still have in the back of your mind that once you find him, he may not be in best shape. You promise yourself you won't cry or assume the worst when you see him passed out on the floor… Focus agent! That's not important. Gary will not be dead, you'd feel it.

As you load your penguin self with different gadgets you're sure you'll be using, you think about nothing but Gary. You miss him so much, you could break something! This is the first time in 4 months you haven't seen him for more then twenty-four hours! And yet, your so full of spite you could break a log in half with your bare wings. Despite all of this rage, the number one motivation for finding him is so that you can see his smile again…

No matter what happens, you will find him.

How'd you like it? Different, right? I know this was supposed to be generic and that I'm not supposed to include any details or anything about the penguin, but come on? Who doesn't have a puffle named Fluffy?

Anyway. If this gets positive feedback, I'll continue it, the next chapter being based on Operation Blackout. If I don't know about you, but based on the Sneak Peaks it looks totally kick-ass. And that's coming from a teenager. Think about that. Seriously, it's kind of scary how excited I am about this. EPF THEME SONG! Nah nah nah nahnahnah nahnah!

… I need help.

Yeah, I know it came out today but I haven't had time to play because there's this little thing called homework and chorus and tutoring! I'm posting this in my school's computer lab (it's study hall, don't worry I'm not skipping class =]) But once I get home I'll play around and hopefully come up with some ideas. If this gets positive feedback, I'll update, but if it doesn't then… hey ignore this and I hope you enjoyed this one-shot! =)

One more thing to add to this ridiculously long Author's Note: For the cover, humanized Gar-bear and "you" or penguin form? Thanks so much!

WADDLE (and review!) ON!